Follow-up CenterThreads made in the Emergency Room forum will be moved here by staff as a way to follow-up with members after their budgie emergency.
This keeps the E.R. for only the most current emergencies.

A week ago we noticed Squints sitting on the bottom of his cage, which he never does. Only perching on his food dish, which again is very low in the cage. And he was very sleepy. He's not an active bird to begin with (doesn't play with toys, only hangs out on our shoulders or his perches) but he stopped climbing to our shoulders or to his higher perches.

Called our local bird store, they recommended a vet and in the meantime told us to put him in a travel cage with a light bulb shining on it indirectly for a warming source. He wasn't getting better, but not declining.

Took him to the vet a couple days later at the earliest appt, without doing blood tests we can't be sure, so they gave him a 14 day antibiotic. Said we should know in 72 hours.

A little over 60 hours after first dose, he's not better. Just sleeping all the time. But last couple days, he's twitching his head and it twists almost upside down. Looks like he loses his balance, having a seizure or something.

I need to call the vet back today to get a recommendation for an Avian vet, but until then, does anyone have experience with this?

We took Squints to the vet on Monday. Without extensive testing they decided to put him on an antibiotic for 14 days saying if he had an infection, he should feel better in 72 hours. That same evening we noticed his head was twitching and twisting a lot, I know now this is called Stargazing.

He wasn't declining in any way, just the occasional twitch and twist of his head. We called the vet back and they suggested an avian vet about 25 miles away so we have an appointment with that vet this coming Monday. Talked to our local bird store today and they said that avian vet is the best.

But tonight, we may have noticed something that explains a LOT. I clipped some millett in the cage and he didn't seem to go right for it. I clipped it closer to him and he devoured it but sometimes would lose his balance while eating it from his perch. Then my husband put the millet in his hand and he would eat it, then took it away and Squints was still trying to eat it with nothing there. Could he be blind????

This would explain his loss of balance, why he won't climb onto his perches, even the very low ones, or our shoulders without assistance, why he seems lost when looking around his cage. He will eat food, but won't go to his water dish. He can smell the food but not the water I assume? It makes perfect sense to how he is acting, but I suppose we need the vet on Monday to confirm.